glissade

My 5 children are now fighting about which one of them we have to kick out of the house 🤣😂🤣

Yes - all of this. Separating high-level attainment from a vocational career in teenage years is def valuable.

Yes, definitely. And it's very specific and helpful!

Just reading this article in the Guardian .... https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/sep/07/side-hustle-essential-how-covid-brought-dancers-to-their-knees Makes me wonder .... lots in there that resonates.

Thanks for the link. Shared

If your daughter looks on it as, "Which auditions do I want to experience?" rather than, "Which vocational school do I have a chance of getting into?", then you'll be on the right track ......

I think I was responding mostly to Tulip's comment - "I just feel that there is no point in trying to tell people, because it’s so difficult not to tell the truth without breaking the rules" - and feeling frustrated at how individuals are able to abuse the power of legal threats to gag their victims ... and wondering whether fear of that threat leads to an over-interpretation of the forum rules perhaps (although I do understand the point about individual circumstances being identifiable even when the poster isn't using their real name). My post came from exasperation at the imbalance of power really, rather than a criticism of this forum!

I don't understand why it isn't possible for somebody to write: "In an un-named school, this happend to my child: xyz" If these anonymised stories were available, then perhaps others wouldn't feel so alone, and others again would know what to watch out for. It isn't a question of naming and shaming - it's about doing the best that is possible with the resources that are available.

.... which comes full circle back round to the question, how can people dare to raise their head above the parapet when they are threatened with legal action and effectively silenced?

Again, I agree, Kate; this is obviously easier when all the information - including previous pupils’ or parents’ experiences - is freely available though, and for various reasons, that’s not always the case. Exactly this - if information is censored, how is it possible to know??

No, you're not the only one 🙂

I struggled with this too until I realised that the admin don't have any choice - they have to shut down/remove these posts because they would lose their livelihoods if they didn't. This just isn't the right forum .... that's all.

Absolutely this

As far as I'm aware, all RBS MA boys travel to London, and there aren't any mixed MA classes at any centre ....

This article is relevant here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/15/2m-children-in-uk-have-done-almost-no-school-work-in-lockdown

I didn't notice that .... or the "oversolits" typo either!!! 😉

Sorry!!! 😂😂😂

Personally, I'd be very happy never to see oversplits .... for me, they fall into the same category as eg being able to pop your eyeballs out of their sockets! When I watch someone dancing, I really don't want to be grossed out by contortionist tricks .... https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/daily/2017/06/28/news/a-woman-who-can-pop-her-eyes-out-of-her-head-has-answered-the-internet-s-questions-1070147/

Seconded!

I was frustrated for ages too!! The first time the heart stayed in place was a major event - I'm not sure my family appreciated my delight ....! Anyway - happy to have been able to help 🙂 x

I had that problem too! Eventually, I realised you have to click on the heart twice - once, to make it jump up; a second time, to confirm that you like the post. Hope that helps! X

From my own perspective, individual stories and experiences do indeed help when I am asking for information to address a personal, specific situation. I wouldn't like to assume that isn't the case for anybody else asking questions also .....

I've been a member of several forums (fora?) over the years, many of which have been constrained by legal implications. It incenses me, I have to confess, because I hate being censored and I absolutely detest having posts that I've spent time writing being deleted! I really can't emphasise that enough - I HATE being silenced!!!! However .... I have also come, over my aging internet years, to appreciate that I don't always have the bigger picture, and that the legal constrainsts of the world in which I find myself play out online as much as they do offline. I don't like that. In fact .... did I say this yet? ... I HATE being censored. But ......... here's the big BUT. Living in the UK, I believe that in most instances I do have freedom of speech. That right is precious to me and I would HATE even more to be living in a country that denied me this in even the most basic of positions. I have also learned to appreciate that, on this specific internet forum, when we are told, "You can't mention such-and-such a school", it isn't because the moderators/forum have taken that stance for themselves - but it's because the schools themselves have said that they don't want to be mentioned. Taking that perspective, I understand it as the schools in question saying that they would rather not be talked about at all than to take the risk of receiving either good or bad publicity in these forums. I hope this is helpful, pictures ..... as I have also appreciated your posts greatly and would HATE to see you disappear from this forum right now when you still have so much that I want to talk to you about ..... xx

Mammabear - could your daughter have said what she said in the spur of the moment and now feels that she has to stick by it? If so, is there a way you could help her to change her mind without losing face ....? I sometimes find that staying cool, unemotional and logical works best. Perhaps it might help her to write down a pros and cons list of quitting dancing at this stage. Sometimes, seeing things laid out in black and white brings a bit of clarity, especially if the 'pro quitting' side of the page contains little more than 'to spend time with a boy' ......

I think a major influence has been the promotion of static poses as images over an appreciation of the expression of movement between these positions. An arabesque is beautiful because of what comes immediately before and afterwards ... how the position is reached and how the body transforms fluidly into a different position after moving through the arabesque. Instagram shots of high extensions, over-splits etc don't capture this artistic quality. Instead, they celebrate the gymnastic contortion and extreme flexibility of the dancer's body. I think backtracking on this is likely to be extremely difficult, not least because there seems to be a genuine trend in vocational pathways of rewarding young dancers with extreme flexibility and high extensions. It is highly possible that the most successful students also have artistic expression and an ability to communicate through the art form ..... however, I'm not so sure that dancers with those two latter qualities would get very far in today's ballet world if they did not also possess outstanding flexibility and high extensions .... Perhaps the horse needs to be put before the cart - ie. audience taste will only change if dance schools and companies are actively seen to be not only encouraging but also promoting safe practice and an appreciation of ballet as an art form instead of a gymnastic display.